1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to infrared image detectors and in particular to a surface acoustic wave (SAW) line imaging array.
2. Prior Art
Infrared imaging detectors have a wide variety of commercial and military applications. Currently, most infrared imaging detectors are self-scanned arrays of infrared semiconductor detectors employing solid state charge transfer techniques. However, these self-scanned arrays are relatively expensive and require cryogenics which make them too bulky for many applications, such as intrusion alarms, infrared threat detectors and miniature infrared spectrometers. Pyroelectric imaging detectors operable at room temperature are slow, have poor sensitivity and respond only to time-varying signals. The invention is a monolithic, self-scanned infrared line imaging array which does not require cryogenic cooling, has a fast response, and is sensitive to stationary images.